If it's time to give your WordPress site an overhaul you can develop locally or "live" on the site. If you are a "live" kind of developer but you don't want everyone else to be able to see what you're doing, then you can do that.
My preference is to use a theme switching plugin. There are several plugins in the repository that allow users to select different themes from the front-end, but for simple administrator control I recommend the Theme Test Drive plugin.
I had used this plugin once in the past, but forgot the name. I had trouble locating it using Google search or the WordPress.org search, so hopefully this will help someone else looking for the same thing. Ok so now for the how-to:
Theme Test Drive (TTD) provides a handy theme installation tool. Just paste in the url to a theme zip file and click install theme.
The main use for TTD is to select a theme that will only be seen by logged in administrator(s). It's as simple as selecting the theme from the drop-down menu. Once you have the desired theme selected, click the "Enable Theme Drive" button. If you're logged in and browse to the site you should now see the alternate theme. Log out and you get the view that everyone else sees, which is the "real" activated theme according to WordPress.
So here are the steps after loggin in to your WordPress site:
- Install the Theme Test Drive Plugin
- Install the new theme that you will be customizing
- Click on "Theme Test Drive" under your Appearance menu in WordPress
- Choose the new theme from the drop-down menu
- Click the "Enable Theme Drive" button.
- Customize your new theme "under cover".
Once you have the new theme finished, just activate it so the rest of your visitors can experience it! Don't forget to return to TTD and click the "Disable Theme Drive" button. You may forget you have the plugin installed and wonder about the strange behavior otherwise.
Brett
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